33RD ANNIVERSARY OF SUFFERING OF SERBS IN ČARDAK MARKED

DERVENTA, APRIL 27 /SRNA/ - The 33rd anniversary of the suffering of 37 Serbs from the Derventa neighborhood of Čardak was commemorated today at the "Čardak" Memorial Complex.

A holy liturgy was celebrated at the Church of St. Apostle Thomas, followed by a memorial service and the laying of wreaths.

Drago Knežević, the president of the Derventa War Prisoners' Association, emphasized that most of the Serbs were killed on Easter in 1992 at their doorsteps, and the crimes were committed by members of the Croatian regular army, supported by paramilitary Croatian-Bosniak units from Derventa.

"Neither women, children, nor the elderly were spared. Instead of rejoicing in Easter, many families were then plunged into grief, and the population was taken to concentration camps, from which some never returned alive," Knežević said.

Entire families perished – from the Lazarević household, the father, mother, and son; from the Živković household, the father, mother, and son; as well as the Zorić and Ćudić married couples.

"To those who don't know, let me repeat – here was a mass grave, where the regular Croatian army, aided by paramilitary Muslim and Croatian formations, killed 37 residents of Čardak. Of those, 19 were buried at this site, while another mass grave was at the cemetery in Modran, with nine remains," Knežević said.

He added that of the 223 former prisoners who managed to survive and witness the brutality they endured in the camps, only 90 are still alive today.

A large number of those who couldn't escape were captured and taken to the Rabić military warehouse and the former JNA barracks in Derventa, where they were subjected to the most brutal forms of torture.

Former prisoners recounted that first, the children and women were separated from the adult men. The women were later released but were raped and abused, while the men were kept in these camps for days.